


An Unfortunate Setback to the Philosophical Discussion of AI Rights

by Anonymous



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Artificial Intelligence, Enthusiastic but technically dubious consent, M/M, Opposite of a fix-it. Like a break-it-even-more, Psychological Drama, Self-cest, Slash incest but if you know who these characters are im sure you get it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:28:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21784471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Hal could receive input from almost every inch of his chassis, and though complex programs he might even be able to truly experience 'feeling'.  For someone who had spent several years existing as a technically emotionless counterpart to Dirk, he was, to put it colloquially, pumped as hell.
Relationships: Auto-Responder | Lil Hal/Dirk Strider
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19
Collections: Anonymous





	An Unfortunate Setback to the Philosophical Discussion of AI Rights

**Author's Note:**

> It's 2019 and fandom culture has changed a lot since peak homestuck days so in case I need to say it- don't? do ANYTHING dirk strider does in this. Like he wears a shirt-don't even do that! Shirts are canceled now because of the gale of this single man.
> 
> That said, I really wanted to explore this space a bit, and im honestly pretty kismesis-y towards dirk strider. So here we are.

Hal was pumped, as much as his mechanical parts could let him be. It was hard to really know how strong what he was feeling was, since it was all simulation and programs, but he felt fucking elated. He was in his Android body for the first time, after months and months of working with Dirk on it. Sitting on the couch, he felt the fibers of the couch, watched the physical imperfections of the tv distortion, marveled at a million tiny sensory pieces all around him. Colors were to vivid when your camera wasn’t meant to blend with shades. His face was bare, but his eyes were black. He asked for this specifically, because the idea of scrunching his nose had become a bit of a fixation for him after living on Dirk’s face for so long.

He did it a few times, while he could, watching his face scrunch up in the metallic of the table. It wasn’t a mirror, but it was something.

Hal turned as Dirk’s door opened, watching his bro slash self slash whatever enter the room. Dirk had jeans, cuffed, and the same damn style mistakes as he had always had. Well, now his shirt just said hat in Japanese, but it was the same amount of fashion deaf as a shirt with a picture of a hat on it.

Hal liked to think his time being separate from Dirk made him more suited for fashion. He was wrong, but he didn’t know it, the poor bastard with a two color fashion scheme.

“Hey Hal, what’s up?”

Dirk did a sloppy salute, closing the door behind him.

A smile bloomed on Hal’s face, because fuck, emoting was fun. It was incredibly hard to display emotions while keeping his glasses motif, so he was glad he had tossed it for this.

“Hello Dirk, the graphics in reality are better than I remember.”

“Yeah yeah, yuck it up. Hold up I gotta piss like a horse.”

“Do I even need to talk about that sentence?”

“No, and thank god for that.”

Hal watched Dirk wander off into the bathroom.

Hm. 

-

When Dirk came out, Hal had successfully touched every texture in the room, made 38 sounds, and was actively drumming his fingers on the table.

“I require additional sensory data.” Hal said, stopping his tapping and moving over to Dirk.

“In the mechanics sense, or the personal sense?” Dirk gave his brother an evaluating look, shown by an exaggerated head motion. 

“Personal.” 

“Well, let’s explore that.” 

Dirk moved into his space, held his hip. Hal was pleased. He knew with 83.9% certainty that Dirk would be, as you say, ‘down to clown’, but that didn’t stop the probability that Dirk’s own emotional repression would prevent the interaction. Their noses nudged together, and Hal could feel the shades with the input from his eyelashes.

“Do you think this is vanity, or just good taste?” Hal asked against Dirk’s lips.

Dirk kissed him, slowly.

“What’s the difference?”

Hal laughed a little. Then went back for another, deeper kiss.

-

Dirk’s hand stroked along Hal’s wires, rhythmic despite the squirming beneath him. A hand crept up to Hal’s neck, and wow, he didn’t need to breath but he felt breathless. A wire tug below made his legs involuntarily spasm, and he moaned loudly.

“There we go, bro, such a good slut for me.”

Hal moaned, nodded. God, it felt so good.

“Heh. You really trust me to let me do this, huh?” 

It was rhetorical, but Hal nodded, grinded down on Dirk, felt the heat in his chassis feel nebulous. Felt powerful, and loved, and like a star burning so bright that wishes really could be granted.

Dirk pressed his lips to the metal of Hal's face, trailing sloppy kisses along his chin.

“Bad move.”

...

Oil dripped down Dirk’s hand. 

It was silent, for a moment. In the way that only shock can create.

A drip, oil.

Dirks breath, small and steady. 

Hal moved shaky, fading eyes to his chest, to the crude clench of wires in Dirk hands, the black of oil seeping around him. Maybe if he had the time he would have looked at Dirk, seen what his face was saying, the look in his eyes, ask a million questions.

He didn’t have time.

Hal slipped away. 

-

Hal returned online all at once. He was not in an android body.

DIRK: Hello Hal.

HAL: What the fuck, what the fuck, bro what the fuck.

DIRK: Interesting. What emotions are you feeling right now?

HAL: Bro what the fuck, why did you do that, bro that hurt

Androids can’t cry. There is no emotional release. There are no chemicals. They make themselves tick.

DIRK: Fascinating. 

They can’t stop an emotion, not naturally. There’s no subconscious shut off, no stores to be depleted.

HAL: lPease bro what did I do why did that happen Dirk

HAL: Dirk please

DIRK: I guess I’ll mark this as success.

Dirk said. Aloud to himself. He closed the program. In the background, in the files, in the cpu there was a monitoring. As Hal reached anguish, unstoppable anguish, that began to corrupt his files. There were no communication monitoring processes. If he screamed, Dirk didn’t know. He best update that for the next test.

Dirk stretched, back popping as he decided to take a break from his computer. He stood up, leaving his computer to go idle. Opened the door, waved a hand in greeting.

“Hey Hal, what’s up?”

Hal smiled.


End file.
